Valve-indicator.



A@NIT L FFC.

JOHN A. COLE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

VALVE-INDICATOR.

To all 107mm t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN A. Conn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certa-in new and useful Improvement in Valve-Indicators, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to valve indicators, and has for its object theprovision of new and improved means whereby an attendant, whose duty itis to take care of valves pro vided in manholes or other similar places,may leave an indication which will serve to show to an observer what thecondition of the valve is. y

More particularly my invention provides a pendant indicating apparatus,which is provided with numerals or letters, or other suitable insignia,which in the preferred form are punched in the plate, and which insigniaspecify various conditions of a valve, where said valve is located inthe compartment where the pendant indicator is applied.

More in detail my invention is designed to leave an indication whichshows in which condition the valve was last left by an authorizedattendant, and to this end I further utilize a sealed ar angement, whichseal is supposed to be operable only by the proper party.

I will describe my invent-ion more in"detail by reference to theaccompanying drawing illustrating- 011e embodiment thereof, in which-Figure 1 illustrates my improved pendant valve indicator as located in amanhole, and F ig. 2 is a side view thereof.

I have here shown a compartment which may be a manhole, 1, having thewalls, 2, and provided with a'cove-r, 3. In accordance with my inventionI have applied the valve indicator to the cover, so that it cannotbecome misplaced or lost, and so that it is not liable to be forgottenor removed. To this end the cover has a semi-circular ring formedintegral with the cover, and which supports a suitable plate 5 throughthe agency of a second semi-circular ring, 6, which passes through thering 4;, and is bolted to the plate 5 by the bolts 7 7. The plate 5preferably has a numeral, which in this instance is given as 24, toidentify the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 24, 1908.

Patented Apr. 18, 1911. Serial No. 454,649.

particular valve indicator, to show with which compartment or valve itbelongs.

To carry out the indicating feature, I provide a swivel 8, which ismounted on the plate 5 and cariies a head or pin 9, which prevents itsremoval from the said plate 5. An indicating` plate 10 is punched toforni a recess in such a manner as to provide a thin strip 11 which litsin a hole in the swivel S. The indicating plate 10 can thus be movedwith the strip 11 as an axis, and the swivel S can of course be rotatedso that eitherI side of the indicating plate 10 may he held in placeagainst the plate I preferably punch a lette-r S, 12 at one end of theplate 10, and the letter O, 18 at the other extremity. Thus for instancewhen the letter S shows below the plate 5, as in Fig. 1, the valve hasbeen left shut by the last authorized attendant. vShould the nextauthorized attendant come along and open the ialvc, he would raise theplate 10, rotating it about its axis, 11, and also rotate the swivel 8through an angle of 180 degrecs, and then rotate the plate 10 backagainst the plate 5, in which condition the letter O would show belowthe plate 5, and would indicate that the last authorized at tendant hadleft the valve in an open condition. I further provide a hole 14; in theplate 10, and a hole 15 in the plate 5, through which a wire 16 can bepassed, which wire 16 is then held together by a seal 17, which seal cancarry the proper niark of the authorized attendant, so that unauthorizedindividuals cannot tamper with this indicating device. The indicatingdevice, as is apparent from the drawing, is

permanently fastened to the cover 3, so that the proper indicatingdevice remains with its associated valve.

The valve indicators can be sold separately, or the covers andindicators can be sold together, as a single article.

While I have herein shown and particularly described the preferredembodiment of my invention, I do not wish to limit myself to the preciseconstruction and arrangement as herein set forth, but

Having thus shown one embodiment thereof, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An indicating device for valves fastened to the cover plate, saidindicating device having a reversible plate having characters punched insaid plate.

2. An indica-ting device for valves fastened to the cover plate, saidindicating device having a reversible plate having characters punched insaid plate, and a seal to prevent unauthorized actuation of saidindicating device.

3. An indicating device for valves fastened to a cover, comprising asupporting plate, an indicating plate, a swivel for uniting the tivo,and a seal to indicate authorized actuation of said indicating plate.

4. An indicating device for valves fastened to a cover, comprising asupporting plate,` an indicating plate, characters punched through saidplate, a swivel for uniting the tivo, and a seal to indicate authorizedactuation of said indicating plate.

5. A valve compartment cover, having an indicating device to indicatethe condition of said valve as left by the last authorized actuation ofsaid valve, said indicating device having a reversible plate havingcharacters ,punched therein.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe iny naine this 18th day ofSeptember, A. D.

JOHN A. COLE. Witnesses E. B. CAMPBELL, O. M. VENNIGH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained Vfor five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

